Golf-club shaft



OC 7, 1930. H. G. BARRETT GOLF' CLUB SHAFT Filed sept. 2e, 192e L |112Il Jmzafaff Patented Oct. 7, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HAROLD G.BARRETT, OF WILMETTE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO PYRATONE PRODUCTSCORPORATION, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS GOLF-CLUBSHAFT Application led September 26, 1928. Serial No. 308,408.

This invention relates in general to im- 1C" directly imparted to thehands of the user.

It has been attempted lto overcome these difficulties land objections byproviding a relatively soft hand gripping portion, but such a result hasnot been entirely satisfactorily 15 accomplished for the reason that itis not firm enough to promote good play With the club.

It has also been attempted to overcome these objections b v providing ahand grip or sleeve formed of hard or firmmaterial having no u n nlnherent torsional resihency, the sleeve encircling the end of the shaftand the ends of the sleeve being secured to or connected with the shaftby means of collars or members of torsionally distortable materialinterposed between the shaft and sleeve and secured to both. This hasalso been objectionable for the reason, among others, that the sleevesdeteriorate and the resiliency thereof varies with the life of the club.

It is 'one of the objects of the present invention to overcome thesedifficulties and objections by dispensing With such intermediateresilient sleeves and by providing an improved hand grip portion orsleeve for shafts of this character, constructed of comparatively hard,fiexible non-metallic mate rial having inherent resiliency adapting thesleeve or grip portion for torsional distortion. one end of the gri pingsleeve being rmly secured to the sha t or casing, if a casing isemployed for the shaft. thereby imparting the necessary or desiredtorsional. elasticity or cushioning effects. combining in the shaft allof the attributes of both a Wooden and steel or metallic shaft. Withoutsacrificing any of the advantages of either.

A further object is to provide an improved hand grip of this characterconstructed of a comparatively hard, non-metallic material which Willyield slightly under the grip of the users hands Without entirelydistorting the sleeve under such pressure, to insure a firm grip andform a cushion to the comfort of the user, as all shock of the impact ofthe club with the ball will be absorbed in the club and hand grip beforeit reaches the hands of the user.

To the attainment of these ends and the accomplishment of other new anduseful objects as Will appear, the invention consists in the features ofnovelty in substantially the construction. combination and arrangementof the several parts, hereinafter more fully described and claimed andshown in the accompanying drawing illustrating this invention, and inwhich Figure 1 is an elevation of a golf club shaft constructed inaccordance With the principles of this invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical, longitudinal sectional view of a hand gripsleeve, on an enlarged scale, constructed in accordance with theprinciples of this invention.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view on an enlarged scale, taken online 3 3, Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4 4, Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5 5, Figure 3.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a supporting collar.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of a portion of the golf club shafthaving a collar secured thereto by means of which the hand grip sleeveis fastened to the shaft.

Referring more particularly to the drawing the numeral 10 designates agolf club shaft which may be of any desired construction, but in thepresent exemplification of this invention is shown as being formed of atubular metallic member. Secured to the shaft 10 in any desired orsuitable manner such as by brazing, sweating. or otherwise. is a collar11 which is constructed of any suitable material preferablynon-resilient and may be of any desired length and thickness. The collarmay be provided with a plurality of apertures or openings 12. Thiscollar 1s secured to the shaft at a point in proximity to the end of asleeve 13 and also in proximity to the end of a casing 14, upon theshaft. s"

The sleeve forming the hand grip of the club is of tubular configurationand is of an internal diameter somewhat greater than the externaldiameter of the portlon of the shaft 10 over which the sleeve 13 isplaced. The sleeve is formed of any suitable comparatively hard',flexible, non-metallic material having inherent resiliency adapting thesleeve or grip portion for torsional distortion to provide tie necessaryor desired torsional elasticity or cushioning effect and to insure thatthe sleeve will return to its normal position after being distorted.

It has been found in practice that pyroxyline possesses the necessary)7qualifications for such purpose, but it is to e understood that anyother suitable material may be employed for the purpose.

The contour of the sleeve 13 conforms to the contour of the shaft 10,that is if the end of the shaft over which the sleeve is placed is of auniform diameter throughout its length, then the sleeve will also be ofa substantially uniform diameter but if the shaft is tapered, the sleevewill be tapered. The upper end of the sleeve is preferabl flared as at15 so as to receive a plug 16, t e plug being of any suitable materialwhich may be suitably ornamented or polished to give a finish to theproduct. The lug is telescoped into the flared portion 15 o the sleeveand if desired the plug ma be provided with a circumferential shoul er17 against which the end of the sleeve rests, the plug and sleeve beingsecured together in any suitable manner.

The plug is rovided with a recess 18 opening through t e lower facethereof and this recess is of a diameter considerably greater than thediameter of the portion of the shaft 10 which telescopes into therecess. A collar 19 formed of any suitable material, such as metal orthe like, is interposed between the periphery of the shaft 10 and thesurroundlng Wall of the recess 18 in' the plug 16, the collar 19 beingpreferabl secured in any suitable manner to the wall of the recess 18and has a bearing contact against the periphery of the shaft 10 so as tomove thereabout.

The lower end of the sleeve 13 is secured to the collar 11 in anysuitable manner. If the collar 11 is provided with openings 12 as shown,the sleeve is secured thereto' by forcing portions 20 of the sleeve intothe respective openings 12. This may be accomplished in any suitablemanner, such for instance, as by applying heat to the end of the sleeveto soften the adjacent portion of the sleeve and then forcing a part ofthe material into the openings.

Arranged at any suitable point within the sleeve 13 and encompassing theshaft 10 is a if a casing is used Y vided, and t collar 21, an number ofwhich may be prohis collar is constructed of any suitable comparativelypreferabl soft material, such as hard felt or the li e to assist inmaintaining the sleeve 13 concentrically arranged with respect to theportion of the shaft 10 which the sleeve encompasses, and to form abearing or support for the sleeve. The collars 21 may be secured in anysuitable manner either to the inside of the sleeve or to the shaft 10 sothat the sleeve 13 may slide or rotate over the collar, or if the collaris secured to the sleeve the collar will rotate or slide over the shaft10 thereby avoiding any distortion of the collars when the sleeve 13 andshaft 10 are relatively rotated.

If desired, and in order to prevent direct frictional engagement of theinner surface of the griptping sleeve 13 with the eriphery of the sha t10, a filling 22 may e provided within the space between the peripheryof the shaft 10 and the interior of the sleeve or grip portion 13 andwhich filling may be constructed of any suitable soft material so as notto interfere with the torsional action of the sleeve 13 with respect tothe shaft 10 and will also form a support for the sleeve.

With this improved construction and as the sleeve 13 is provided withinherent resiliency adapting the sleeve or grip portion for torsionaldistortion, it will be manifest that as one end of the sleeve is rigidlysecured to the shaft 10 through the medium of the collar 11, and as theupper end of the shaft 10 is rotatably supported within the collar 19,and as the collars 21 are merely supporting collars and non-distortable,there will be a torsional distortion of the sleeve 13 occasioned by theimpact between the head of the club and the ball. This torsional actionof the sleeve 13 will serve as a cushion and will absorb all shockbefore the shock or force of the impact reaches the hands of the user.The collar 19'serves as a bearing about the end of the shaft 10, therebynot only permitting the shaft and the grip sleeve 13 to rotate freelywith respect to each other but will reduce the wear and prevents theparts from becoming loose at the same time the collar 19 will not bedistorted.

The sleeve 13 being constructed of material having some inherentresiliency, will also yield, to a certain extent, by the pressure of thehands in gripping the sleeve, thereby causing the sleeve to conform, ina measure, to the contour of the hand, serving as a cushion, and asomewhat flexible or yieldable grip for the user.

The sleeve also not only serves as a protection for the end of the shaftbut also adds an ornamental finish to the shaft.

With this improved invention it will be manifest that the sleeve may beapplied to the shaft and the construction of the shaft entirelycompleted before the head is secured to the shaft, thereby facilitatingin the manufacture of the shaft.

Furthermore the torsional elasticity or cushioning effects which aredesirable and necessary in shafts of this character are contained asinherent properties of the material itself from which the sleeve or gripis constructed. That is to say, the necessity of providing collars orintermediate sleeves between the shaft and the grip portion so as toprovide or produce such torsional qualifications with hard metallicgripping sleeves is dispensed with, which is quite a desideratum,inasmuch as the resilient or elastic sleeves which have heretofore beenused for this purpose between the gripping sleeve and the shaftdeteriorate with age, with the further result that with the priorconstructions the resiliency or torsional qualifications of the grippingsleeve with respect to the shaft varies with the life of suchdistortable intermediate collars.

Obviously the degree of tension in the grip will be controlled, variedor regulated by the thickness of the material used and by the length anddiameter of the grip. lfVhile the preferred form of the invention hasbeen herein shown and described, it is to be understood that variouschanges may be made in the details of construction and in thecombination and arrangement of the several parts, within the scope ofthe claims, without departing from the spirit of this invention.

lVhat is claimed as new is 1. A golf club shaft, an encircling hand gripsleeve formed of comparatively hard torsionally distortable material,said sleeve having an inherent quality of returning to normal positionafter distortion, and means rigidly anchoring one end of the sleeve tothe shaft, the other end of the sleeve being free to rotate with respectto the shaft.

2. A golf club shaft, an encircling hand grip sleeve formed ofcomparatively hard torsionally distortable material, said sleeve havingan inherent quality of returning to normal position after distortion,and means rigidly anchoring one end of the sleeve to the shaft, theother end of the sleeve being disconnected from but having a bearingupon the shaft for free rotative movement with respect thereto.

3. A golfclub shaft, an encircling hand .grip sleeve formed ofcomparatively hard torsionally distortable material, said sleeve having'an inherent quality of returning to normal position after distortion,means rigidly connecting one end of the sleeve to the shaft, and meansloosely mounting the other end of the sleeve to the shaft.

4. A golf club shaft, an encircling hand grip sleeve formed ofcomparatively hard torsionally distortable material having an inherentquality of returning to normal posisition after distortion, meanssecuring one end of the sleeve to the shaft, the remainin portion of thesleeve being free from and rotatable with respect to the shaft, and aplug in the other end of the sleeve, a portion of the plug and theadjacent end of the shaft telescoping whereby each will form a bearingfor the other.

6. A golf club shaft, an encircling hand grip sleeve formed ofcomparatively hard torsionally distortable material having an inherentquality of returning to normal position after distortion. means securingone end of the sleeve to the shaft, the remaining por tion of the sleevebeing free from and rotatable with respect to the shaft, a plug in theother end of the sleeve, a portion of the plug and the adjacent end ofthe shaft telesco ing whereby each will form a bearing for t e.

other, and a hard bearing element interposed between the plug and shaftand eneom assing the latter and with respect to which earing element theshaft and sleeve are rota-table one with respect to the other.

7. A golf club shaft, an encircling hand grip sleeve formed ofcomparatively hard torsionally distortable material having an inherent4quality of returning to normal position after distortion, a rigid sleevesecured to the shaft, and interengaging means between said rigid sleeveand one end of the hand grip sleeve for anchoring said end of the handgrip sleeve to the shaft.

8. A golf club shaft, an encircling hand grip sleeve formed ofcomparatively hard torsionally distortable material having an inherentquality of returning to normal position after distortion, and a rigidsleeve secured to the shaft, the last said sleeve being encompassed bythe first recited sleeve, said sleeves being secured together by forcinga portion of one into the other to interlock them.

9. A golf club shaft, an encircling hand grip sleeve formed ofpyroxyline adapted to be torsionally distorted and having an inherentquality of returning to normal position after distortion, and meanssecuring one end of the sleeve to the shaft, the other end of the sleevebeing freely movable with respect to the shaft.

10. A golf club shaft, an encircling hand grip sleeve formed ofcomparatively hard torsionally distortable material having an inherentquality of returning to normal posi- Aas izo

tion after distortion, means securing one end of the sleeve to theshaft, the other end of the sleeve being free from the shaft and flared.and a plug in said flared end, a portion of the plug and the adjacentend of the shaft telescoping whereby each will form a. bearing for theother.

11. A golf club shaft, an encircling hand grip sleee formed ofcomparatively hard torsionavlly distortable material having an inherentquality of returning to normal position after distortion,`meansanchoring one end of the sleeve to the shaft and against relativemovement with respect thereto, the remaining portion of the sleeve beingdetached from the shaft. spaced therefrom and freely torsionable withrespect thereto, and a supporting collar for the sleeve, said snpportingcollar encompassing the shaft and disposed between the shaft and thesleeve` the torsional distortion produced by a relative rotation of theshaft and sleeve being entirely within the said hand grip sleeve.

12. A golf club shaft, an encircling hand grip sleeve formed ofcomparatively hard torsionally distor'table material having an inherentquality of returning to normal position after distortion, meansanchoring one end of the sleeve to the shaft and against relativemovement with respect thereto, the remaining portion of the sleeve beingdetached from the shaft, spaced therefrom and freely torsionable withrespect thereto, and a supporting collar for the sleeve, said supportingcollar encompassing the shaft and disposed between the shaft and thesleeve, the torsional distortion produced by a relative rotation of theshaft and sleeve being entirely within the said hand grip sleeve andseparate from said supporting collar, whereby said supporting collarwill at all times remain undistorted.

In testimony whereof I have signed my l name to this specication, onthis 24th day of September, A D. 1928.

HAROLD BARRETT.

